Red Hook Justice Center

Brooklyn, NY

A ground-breaking ceremony
marking the start of construction for the Red Hook Community
Justice Center-a multifaceted community court that will
be the first of its kind in the nation-was held today with
Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, New York City Mayor Rudolph
W. Giuliani, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes,
and other federal, state and local dignitaries. The product
of a unique joint venture between the U.S. Department of
Justice, the City of New York, and the Unified Court System,
the Red Hook Community Justice Center will integrate under
one roof the Family, Housing and Criminal Courts with drug
treatment and other services in an effort to solve neighborhood
problems and improve the quality of life for residents.

Chief Judge Kaye said,
"Today's ground-breaking ceremony symbolizes the significance
of the Red Hook Community Justice Center on both a national
and local scale-it breaks new ground in the area of innovative
justice solutions and will serve as a model for a new generation
of community courts. New York is once again leading the
country in creatively and pragmatically addressing some
of society's most pressing problems: drug abuse, juvenile
delinquency and domestic violence. The Red Hook Community
Justice Center is the product of an exciting alliance between
many individuals and organizations at the federal, State
and City levels and the community of Red Hook itself. The
result of this expansive partnership will be a unique model
of community justice that is sure to be emulated across
the nation."

"Today's ceremony
signals the start of a new partnership between the people
of Red Hook and the Unified Court System," said Mayor
Giuliani. "The Red Hook Community Justice Center will
offer new and innovative solutions to persistent social
problems, by localizing Family, Housing andCriminal Courts
and linking them to community resources. Defendants will
not only be sentenced to perform community service in Red
Hook, but will also be linked to neighborhood-based drug
treatment and job training programs. The people of Red Hook
will benefit tremendously from this new center, and hopefully
we can get individuals, especially juveniles, the help they
need so they don't wind up back in court. The Community
Justice Center is proof once again that New York City is
a national leader in law enforcement and criminal justice
solutions."

The Red Hook Community
Justice Center will build on and expand even further the
successful model of the award-winning Midtown Community
Court in Manhattan, a nationally recognized court that focuses
on community restitution and constructive sentencing for
defendants in low-level crimes. Key features of the Red
Hook Justice Center will include:

A
Multi-Jurisdictional Court: The Justice Center's
caseload will consist primarily of low-level criminal cases,
but it will also handle Family Court and Civil Court matters,
including landlord-tenant disputes and juvenile delinquency
cases.

Community
Restitution: Offenders pay back the neighborhood
through community service sentences, including painting
over graffiti, planting trees, maintaining local parks and
stuffing envelopes for non-profits.

Help
for Entire Community: Social services, like drug
treatment, domestic violence counseling, job training, mediation
services, health care and mentoring, will be available under
one roof to all those touched by crime in Red Hook-victims,
their relatives, community members and defendants.

Aggressive
Approaches to Neighborhood Problems: The Center will
house several programs aimed at addressing neighborhood
problems, including the Red Hook Public Safety Corps-an
AmeriCorps community service program that has put 50 local
residents to work replacing broken windows, reaching out
to crime victims and teaching young people how to resolve
conflicts without violence-and the Red Hook Youth Court,
which uses peer pressure to fight crime by having young
people act as judges, jurors and attorneys in hearing actual
low-level cases involving other teens.

State-of-the-Art
Technology: Computers will help track compliance
and give judges the information they need to make informed
decisions. The Center will also test video technology for
use in remote arraignments and other proceedings.

Funding for the Justice
Center has been secured through a combination of federal,
State and City sources, as well as private foundations.
The U.S. Department of Justice has provided $1.4 million
for design and planning. Renovation, which will be underwritten
by the City of New York, is estimated to cost $4.8 million.
The Center will be built on the site of a former parochial
school at 94 Visitation Place in Red Hook, with the renovation
expected to last a year.

The creation of the Justice
Center is being spearheaded by the Center for Court Innovation,
the research and development arm of state court system.